We tend to think – and with reason – that higher education in the pre-modern world was the domain of the elite. This is true, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. A substantial number of students in British universities from before the Reformation until comparatively recently were being educated for careers, not lives of leisure, and an examination of university records can often reveal a surprising amount of information about both upwardly- and downwardly mobile individuals. In Scotland, which had a phenomenally high literacy rate of 75% as early as 1750, not to mention twice as many universities as its neighbour to the south, university records are a particularly important resource for tracing any family from tacksmen to peers. Unfortunately, researchers used to the biographically rich dictionaries of English graduates, the Alumni Oxonienses and Cantabrigienses, will be disappointed. Some works, such as Anderson’s Fasti of Marischal College or Addison’s Glasgow matriculation albums, contain more or less the level of information found in the English Alumni, but most others are bare lists of names, reflecting the sparer record-keeping practices of many of the Scottish universities; sometimes it was simply impossible for the scholars who compiled these materials to identify which 'James Baillie' or 'Robert Young' a particular entry referred to. Why bother with such records, then, if identification of individual university graduates is so uncertain? Perhaps the best reason is the idiosyncratic Scottish use of “Mr” in early modern documents. Whereas English usage of the period was simply honorific (“Mr” in the seventeenth century and before was an abbreviation for “master” and vaguely implied superior social status but little more), in Scotland the title was reserved for literal masters, men who had graduated M.A. (magister artium) from a university. If you’re investigating such a person, locating their university record can help pinpoint their date of birth, indicate possible links of association and patronage, and perhaps even provide a clue as to their place of origin. But how to start? To indicate some first ports of call and to give a sense of what material is available in print, I’ve compiled a comprehensive bibliography of published university matriculation albums, graduation rolls, fasti, and similar documents, indicating where digital versions exist (similar to the catalogue of burgess rolls I compiled recently). I’ve also included brief comments on the information they contain and examples of what you can expect to find. Aberdeen Peter John Anderson, ed. Fasti Academiae Mariscallanae Aberdonensis: Selections from the Records of Marischal College and University, MDXCIII-MDCCCLX, 3 vols. Aberdeen: Printed for the New Spalding Club, 1889-1898. Vol. 1. Vol. 2. Vol. 3.Anderson’s Fasti are some of the best examples of their kind. A typical example of the material given on late eighteenth-century undergraduates is this, taken from page 377:

Peter John Anderson, ed. Officers and Graduates of University & King’s College, Aberdeen, MVD-MDCCCLX. Aberdeen: Printed for the New Spalding Club, 1893.By contrast, Anderson’s volume for King’s is sparser in the information it provides – in large part due to the different record-keeping systems of the two universities. Note in this example (from page 251) that while most of the students are identified only by county of origin, James Trail is specifically stated to be the son of the minister of Dunnet in Caithness:

Munimenta Alme Universitatis Glasguensis: Records of the University of Glasgow, from its Foundations till 1727, 4 vols. Glasgow: The Maitland Club, 1854. Vol. 1. Vol. 2. Vol. 3. Vol. 4.The third volume includes a list of graduates from 1578 to 1695 and 1707 to 1727, a list of matriculations from 1590 to 1696, and various other identifying lists of university members. Information beyond a name and sometimes a nationality is usually non-existent (although note the future antiquary, politician, and composer John Clerk of Pennycuik at the bottom of the page):

An online database maintained by the university which contains most or all of the information given in the above printed sources.

St. Andrews James Maitland Anderson, ed. Early Records of the University of St Andrews: The Graduation Roll, 1413-1579. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1926. James Maitland Anderson, ed. The Matriculation Roll of the University of St Andrews, 1747-1897. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1905.Earlier entries are merely names, but from the mid-nineteenth century onwards places of residence are also given (Smart’s Biographical Register remains the better genealogical resource, however):

R. N. Smart, ed. Alphabetical Register of the Students, Graduates and Officials of the University of St Andrews, 1579-1747. St. Andrews: University of St. Andrews Library, 2012. R. N. Smart, ed. Biographical Register of the University of St. Andrews, 1747-1897. St. Andrews: University of St. Andrews Library, 2004.An exemplary piece of biographical detective-work, with rich, complete biographies of most students from the period covered.Thanks to Janet Wolfe for pointing out the online database of Glasgow graduates.

Just a quick note to let you know that I am very much enjoying your new blog, both those posts about Scottish research (in which I dabble from time to time) and Baltic research (which is an area with which I am not familiar).

David Morehouse, CG (BCL, Oxon)

Reply

Kelsey Jackson Williams

6/11/2013 19:27:45

Thanks -- I'm glad you've been enjoying the blog!

Reply

Claude M. Laird

28/2/2016 10:28:54

I am looking for a Paige Mills (maiden name) who was interested in genealogy and helped Kristine Laird Abplanalp (possibly as far back as 2002) with the Laird family history from Scotland to Ireland to America in the 1600s and 1700s. Kristine informs me that Paige was a graduate student somewhere in Scotland, that she married and now contact with her has been lost. If Paige, or anyone who knows her, sees this, would you please contact me at claude.m.laird@gmail.com? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.